U.S. Senator Sherrod Brown, D-Ohio, was at Columbus State to talk about the new Veterans Retraining Assistance Program (VRAP). Under the program, Ohio veterans are eligible to apply for 12 months of retraining at a community college or technical school. Read more

Columbus State will celebrate its 50th anniversary in 2013—the college held its very first classes on September 30, 1963—and we are busy collecting stories of our outstanding alumni and former students for a commemorative history book. Read more

Meeting of the minds

Gov. John R. Kasich (at left) makes a point during a meeting with university and college presidents on Tuesday (Sept. 11). The Governor has asked university and college presidents to work together to determine higher education funding priorities for the executive proposal of the FY 14-FY 15 two-year operating budget to be unveiled in February. Seated at right, across from Gov. Kasich, is President Harrison. (Photo courtesy of the Office of Gov. John R. Kasich)

Join our recent Distinguished Teaching Award winners for an afternoon of conversation about “What the Best College Teachers Do” on Friday, September 21 at 1:00 p.m. in CT 107. President Harrison will join in the discussion with recent Distinguished Teaching Award winners about outstanding teaching at Columbus State. Please register online for this event as seating is limited.

This is the return of the popular conversation inspired by the book of the same name. Our Distinguished Teachers will share what they have found to be the secrets to their teaching success then open the conversation to all. All four recent winners will on the panel: Christine Evenson, professor in the Interpreter Education Program; Merideth Sellars, instructor in Biological Sciences; Reuel Barksdale, associate professor in Business Management; and Jennifer Dragoo, instructor in Developmental Education.

You are invited to read Chapter 1 of What the Best College Teachers Do, “Defining the Best” in advance of the conversation. It can be read online for free at Google Books: http://bit.ly/TJwYS0.

COOL system to be discontinued for PERFORMs evaluations

For the 2012-2013 performance year the Cabinet has decided that Columbus State will not be using the Career Opportunities On-Line (COOL) system to document PERFORMs. The decision was made in order to provide employees with a consistent, uninterrupted process while the college prepares for improvements to the system during the next year.

PERFORMs documentation for 2012-2013
Full-time staff and administrators are still expected to participate in PERFORMs using fillable, MSWord forms to document the process. The forms are intended to be used by the manager and employee to complete a Planning Guide and can be used throughout the year to capture changes to plans as necessary. The forms can be found at these links:

At the end of the performance year the employee will use the fillable Word forms to complete a Self-Review and managers will use it to complete their Annual Reviews. Only the completed Annual Review will be submitted to Human Resources. Reminders and additional information for completing each step in the performance process will be made available throughout the year. For more information on completing your Planning Guide please check the PERFORMs webpage.

Spellcheck available on all new forms
Please note, for spellcheck to work you need to enable the macros when you open the document. If you are using Microsoft Office 2007 or newer versions, the Spelling and Grammar button can be found under the Add-Ins tab. In older versions of Microsoft Office, the Spelling and Grammar option is found under Tools.

Access to existing documents in COOL
All previously completed documents in COOL will be accessible to employees in “View Only” versions. Directions for accessing these documents can be found on the PERFORMs webpage at this link: http://www.cscc.edu/about/hcd/performs/Planning.shtml. All Planning Guides and Annual Reviews in COOL will be maintained and will continue to be available to employees through this transition year.

For more information or assistance
If you need assistance with the PERFORMs process, or help with completing the new documentation forms, please contact your Human Resources Employment Representative at ext. 2408, or Mary Francis McLaughlin at mmclaugh@cscc.edu or at ext. 5220.

Chorus Columbus State to perform next week

The Columbus State Chorus, under the direction of Gordon Franklin, will perform a short, lively choir program on Wednesday, September 19 at 12:00 p.m., in the Nestor Hall Auditorium. The program will run about 30 minutes and feature light classical and musical theater works. The concert is free and open to the public.

Customers will be appreciated on Sept. 18

The Bookstore will hold Customer Appreciation Day on Tuesday, September 18, when you will receive a 20% discount on all purchases. Normal exclusions apply (textbooks, laptops, etc.).